Monday, 4 July 2011

Cookie, 3000

On a recent trip to Melbourne, I was excited to finally get the chance to try Cookie, the bar and eatery below sister venue The Toff in Town. The thing I love most about this place is that the decor has absolutely no connection to the food, except for maybe that its f-ing awesome. Looking at the modern wall art that mixes images of Canadian woodlands with boxy graffiti art, you would never guess this dive serves up superb Thai cuisine.

The menu at Cookie is pretty extensive and is broken down into dishes of Small, Medium and Large. This makes it great for sharing amongst groups or if you're like me and want to try as many different recipes possible. Why get one dish when you can try three different small ones? Sweet! Feeling not overly hungry, my sister and I chose just two mid-sized plates - the Duck Jungle Curry with eggplant and bamboo shoots (we love bamboo shoots) and the Crispy fish salad with green mango and pickled crab. Both were SO delicious - the salad sweet and zesty and texturally wicked - light crispy flakes of battered fish with the mild crunch of the green mango was an absolute pleasure to eat. The standout was the curry however, and we both ended up literally slurping the remainder of the curry sauce like it was soup. Our conversation changed from complaints of Chapel Streets growing lacklustre, to repetitive mumbles (mouths full, not wanting to break from the munching) of "oh my goodd...yummmm, this is amaaazzzinng..."

A picture of a German beer hall-doll hangs above our table; a quirky departure from your typical Buddhas and temples

Tall windows open to bustling Swanston Street

The service here is a admittedly a bit arrogant. Cookie seems to have a slight case of "fit but don't you know it", but I really don't care 'cos the food is that tasty. Egos aside, the staff are very knowledgeable and the waiter confidently recommended a great wine to enjoy with our food.

Barely a drop of curry wasted

I adore the contrast of the the contemporary Thai street food, against the sweet 60s printed crockery, and crochet table pieces.

L: Lime, rum based cocktail, R: Banana coconut cocktail

Cookie doesn't end at amazing Thai cuisine, the cocktails are top-notch too. The bar staff, like the restaurant staff, know their stuff and happily whipped up some rather complex and extremely delicious cocktails after we declared our favourite flavours and poisons. I think it's obvious I love this place; the buzz, the chatty staff, the kitchy-cool setting and of course the sublime Thai! I cannot wait to go back when i'm next in Melbs.